Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
This forum is in permanent archive mode. Our new active community can be found here.
Scott's Box - Beta #1
Wow, no one's posted a thread for this yet? Usually I'm the late one to the party on these sorts of things.
eLh2CBalhv0
Video description: "The first beta episode of Scott's Box. It's a show where I tell you all about the comics that have arrived in my most recent shipment."
Wow, I don't know if it's just me, but it's so weird hearing your voice in not-so-crystal-clear quality. It almost makes you sound like a completely different person. Or maybe that's just me not being used to seeing your face and mouth moving while you're speaking.
General note: yes, looking away from the camera so much is bad! The camera loves you! Look at eeeeeet!
Also, if possible for the future, it'd be nice if you either scanned in pictures/pages from the comics or grabbed pictures of the covers from the internet and edited the images into the video in post-production. One pic every few comics is what I'm thinking. Then the art can be seen more clearly, which is important for something with such a huge stake in visuals as comics. This definitely isn't a necessity, as it would add significant extra production time to the videos, but it would be nice to see. Even just holding the comics closer to the camera would probably do the trick.
Overall, not a bad first attempt. Looking forward to more.
eLh2CBalhv0
Video description: "The first beta episode of Scott's Box. It's a show where I tell you all about the comics that have arrived in my most recent shipment."
Wow, I don't know if it's just me, but it's so weird hearing your voice in not-so-crystal-clear quality. It almost makes you sound like a completely different person. Or maybe that's just me not being used to seeing your face and mouth moving while you're speaking.
General note: yes, looking away from the camera so much is bad! The camera loves you! Look at eeeeeet!
Also, if possible for the future, it'd be nice if you either scanned in pictures/pages from the comics or grabbed pictures of the covers from the internet and edited the images into the video in post-production. One pic every few comics is what I'm thinking. Then the art can be seen more clearly, which is important for something with such a huge stake in visuals as comics. This definitely isn't a necessity, as it would add significant extra production time to the videos, but it would be nice to see. Even just holding the comics closer to the camera would probably do the trick.
Overall, not a bad first attempt. Looking forward to more.
Comments
EDIT: Now that I've seen the video, I can say this: you have a ton of nervous/habitual tics... use hand gestures sparingly and for emphasis or emotion. If you're not using a mic, you should look into it (it vastly improves sound quality and overall production value)
1. Auto focus. Turn it off. You are out of focus most of the time but the books behind you are sharp. This is really bad! Put something on your chair at head height the correct distance from the camera, make sure the focus is sharp on that, then turn the focus to manual. Alternatively, set up your tripod, sit in your chair with the camera, focus on the tripod and then set the focus to manual. Now when you put the camera on the tripod it should be near enough in focus.
2. Framing. Tip the camera down a bit. Space above your head is wasted, and in this video you are leaning down a lot. Google "rule of thirds" (or just see this first google hit) to see why. Your setup is good if you didn't move at all, but like I said, you are moving quite a bit.
3. Close the screen on the side of your camera. Test the framing a few times and make sure you are happy with the shot setup, then get rid of that distraction. That way you'll keep looking at the camera lens itself, not the screen. It is very obvious and quite off putting. In some test shots, hold things up to the camera so you know when things will be in the shot or not, then just go for it.
4. Looking down... not a huge problem, but a bit of a wide angle so w can see what you are looking at (eg. your box) would make it nicer. Or have the box on a table beside you and the pile of reviewed comics on the other side.
Keep up the good work and I hope to see some new non-comic related videos in the future. My wish list:
1. Video reviews about your favourite German board games so we can actually see the game mechanics at work and what makes them good or bad. Included could be some scenes from you playing a game, explaining to the camera why what just happened was cool... or something.
2. Tour of your geek collections and paraphernalia.
3. The Barge.
I don't know if you feel it adds more to the experience by opening the box on camera, but I personally think it would be better if you had a quick 5 minute look through the comics before the video. That way it could cut down on the "ums" and "ahs" as what each comic is will be fresh in your head. Plus, you won't come across the problem of not knowing what the comic book is because you bought it for cheap :-)
As for your suggestions, they are all very good. Many of them I realize already, but there are others I did not realize. I recorded this entire video in one take, and then I cut parts out to bring it down to under 10 minutes, so it would fit on YouTube. Most of the parts I cut out where just me cutting open the packaging. I was more concerned with just getting something done and out there than I was concerned about getting it perfect. I did want to go to bed, after all.
This is actually part of my new philosophy, which is thanks to the FNPL interview with the more famous Scott Johnson. In it, he talked about how an art teacher told him to take broad bold strokes, and not to feather. I realized as soon as he said that, that I was feathering everything. Not only do I feather when I draw (stick figures), I feather when I write code, I feather in video games, I feather in just about every creative endeavor. I never get anything done because I tweak all the tiny bits, and I don't move from step 1 to step 2 until step 1 is perfect.
Now I'm going to be taking broad strokes. Instead of constantly doing a little bit at a time, switching between "pencil" and "eraser" I'm pulling out the "sharpie" and letting it rip. I'll get something done, even if it sucks. Then, the next time, I'll do the same thing, but it will be better than the first time. GeekNights is the only creative endeavor I have undertaken with that sort of approach, and it is also the most successful.
This means you can expect the videos to keep coming out, and expect them to keep sucking. However, each one will be better than the previous one. Eventually it will be awesome.
Only two major comments from me.
1) No offense, but you guys are much more entertaining as a pair. I felt a little like I was watching a Dateline NBC segment on the creepy criminal who lived next door to the college co-ed.
2) I think you looked at the camera for a total of 1.6 seconds. Something tells me that your eyes dart around a lot in real life.
I think a nice segment at the end would be to point out just a couple of items that you're really interested in pre-ordering this month. (Scott's "top three" or something like that.)
I'll definitely check the next one out. Good luck with this project!
What is there left to say? Good job, the majority of advice already given in this thread pretty much covers all the things I thought off. I do have to disagree with Chase Blackbeard on opening the box before starting the video. I think it's a nice part of Scott's Box, feels a bit like "Allllll righty then, let us discover this treasure trove together, aye matey? *box gets cut open*". You could instead write down why you ordered something in a text file the moment you are ordering it, and perhaps with some extra information, and review that text file before starting the recording. That should reduce the uhms and ahs a bit and give you something more to talk about where necessary.
As for the Mushi-shi manga, did it not contain stories not in the anime?
Silly side notes: The shot of the first second before the video starts playing is awesome, Scott staring slightly blankly into the abyss that is beyond the camera... then the video starts playing, and we hear Scott cheerfully saying "He~llo! And welcome to Scott's Box." Also, huge racks of books.
I second the idea of posting pictures and covers at the end of the video or something like that.
I also second this:
Other than that, keep up the great work. I look forward to seeing more of Scott's Box and whatever you guys come out with.
So focus on content. Once you've got that nailed down, focus on production issues.